Mayor Katz Presented State of the City Address at Annual Dinner

Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz and members of the City Council hosted the annual State of the City dinner on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at the Washington DC North – Gaithersburg Hilton.  The over 300 attendees included civic partners who serve on City boards, commissions and committees, county and state representatives, community leaders, members of the media, and others whose involvement is invaluable to the Gaithersburg community.

In his annual address, Mayor Katz outlined accomplishments from the past year and spoke of challenges and opportunities facing Gaithersburg in the months and years to come.  His full speech is available on the City’s website at www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

Battle of the Bands at Gaithersburg Concert Pavilion

The City of Gaithersburg will be hosting an outdoor Doubles Volleyball League this summer.  Play starts the week of June 14 for the 7-week league, which takes on grass courts at Diamond Farms Park, 857 Quince Orchard Boulevard.  Players must be at least 18 years old.

Different divisions compete on different nights.  This year's divisional nights are Monday: Women's levels AA/A and BB/B; Tuesday: Coed levels BB and B; Wednesday: Men's levels AA/A and BB/B; Thursday: Coed levels AA and A. 

Cost is $30 per person for City of Gaithersburg residents, and $40 for nonresidents.  Registration for returning teams is going on now.  New teams may register starting May 16.  The registration deadline is June 1, 2010.

Gaithersburg Youth Club Presents “The Seuss Odyssey”

Gaithersburg Youth Club’s Center Stage is proud to present “The SeussOdyssey,” a comedy by Don Zolidis produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.  Performances will take place on Friday, May 28 at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 29 at 4 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 30 at 4 p.m. at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road.  Note that show times are subject to change.  Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children under the age of 12.

“The SeussOdyssey” is a hilarious and speedy reimagining of Homer’s Odyssey, complete with a singing Cyclops, the slaughter of suitors acted out with teddy bears, and the sorceress Circe serving up crew members with a side of green eggs.

Now in its seventh year, Center Stage is a free dramatic arts program for students ages 11 to 15 who are members of the Gaithersburg Youth Club.  The participants are involved in all aspects of the theatrical process, including acting, set design and construction, stage management, make-up, advertising and promotion.

Gaithersburg Names 2010 Environmental Award Winners

As part of Gaithersburg Green Week, the City of Gaithersburg presented Environmental Awards to individuals and organizations demonstrating outstanding environmental stewardship in the Gaithersburg community, with the goal of inspiring others to pursue similar efforts.  The awards were presented by Mayor Sidney Katz and members of the City Council at a ceremony held Monday, April 19, 2010, at City Hall.

The Environmental Affairs Committee selected eleven award recipients for their outstanding environmental programs and accomplishments.  This year’s winners represented six local businesses, two local schools, one youth organization, one community organization, and an individual.  The winners illustrate how the different facets of our community are simultaneously growing our local green economy, improving their business models by incorporating sustainability, working within their neighborhoods to go green, and inspiring a new greener generation.  The winners include:

Brown Station Elementary School

Brown Station Elementary School was recognized for the seventh consecutive year for its ongoing commitment to the environment and youth education.  Much of the environmental education at Brown Station centers on the Chesapeake Bay.  Students visited the Bay and learned about marshlands, soil erosion prevention, and water filtration.  They also constructed model watersheds demonstrating the impacts of human activities on the Bay.  Near the school they planted trees along the Long Draught stream to learn about the benefits of restoring native plants and how buffers can protect the Bay.

Watkins Mill High School AP Environmental Science

During the 2009 school year 14 Advanced Placement environmental students learned about the natural environment and the impacts of human activities on sensitive areas.  They formed a collaborative service group and have started to promote water conservation by informing students within the school, on Facebook, and through community outreach.  They are also creating in-school events for Earth Week, and will be initiating small projects within the school to create environmental awareness.  Individually they talk about recycling more at home, purchasing more organic products, conserving water, and going as paperless as possible.  Collectively they will have logged over 800 community service hours in support of the environment once their project is over this semester.

Gaithersburg Youth Center at Robertson Park

Gaithersburg’s Youth Center at Robertson Park continues to incorporate environmental principles into the Center’s regular programming.  The City’s summer camp and youth after-school programs educate and expose children to a wide range of environmental experiences.  Activities include exploring the outdoors through canoeing, kayaking, hiking, rafting, trail blazing, rock climbing and fishing; monitoring local water quality through pond and stream studies; constructing bird houses; planting a youth butterfly garden; conducting stream and park cleanups; stenciling storm drains to prevent pollution into the Chesapeake Bay; and reforesting stream buffers.  In 2009 the youth volunteers planted over 80 wetland flowers to help complete the City’s first green street project along Rabbitt Road.

Kentlands Community Foundation “GO GREEN” Group

The Kentlands Community Foundation's GO GREEN Group came together in the Fall of 2007 and has thrived under the leadership of its volunteers.  Meeting monthly with an objective to educate its members and the greater Gaithersburg community on earth-friendly products, services and practices, the group hosts guest speakers, leads community-based outdoor activities such as tree plantings and green-up days, and has worked with the City to establish a Team Up to Green Up program around the lakes in the Kentlands.  In 2009 the GO GREEN Group embarked on an extensive research, planning, design and education effort to create an organic community garden in Kentlands.  The garden officially opened for the 2010 planting season on April 17, 2010. 

Janet Neumann

Ms. Janet Neumann has made it her personal mission to be an environmental steward in her community.  She recycles as much as possible and is a regular participant in the “Freecycle” network.  She has five to 10 active composting bins at any given time, she has changed all lights to CFLs, she avoids chemicals in lawn and garden care – using corn gluten to prevent crabgrass and removing weeds by hand, she uses rain barrels to catch rainwater, she installed 12 PV solar panels and a solar hot water system in her house in 2008, and she has driven a hybrid vehicle since 2006.   And these are just a few of her accomplishments.  Ms. Neumann embodies a personal commitment to environmental stewardship and serves as an inspiration to the entire community. 

Fitzgerald Auto Malls

Fitzgerald Auto Malls received its fourth annual environmental award.  Since February 2008, Fitzgerald’s Environmental Management System has been certified to the rigorous “ISO 14001” standard, which helps organizations minimize the impacts their operations have on the environment and comply with laws and regulations.  This system helped reduce electricity usage in 2009 by 274,393 kilowatts for an impressive savings of $45,275.  This is the equivalent of greenhouse gas reductions of 197 metric tons of CO2.  Fitzgerald consistently exceeds Montgomery County’s recycling requirement of 50%.  In fact, their two Gaithersburg locations achieved recycling rates of 86.7% and 85.2%.  It is also worth noting that Fitzgerald’s Maryland dealerships are powered by 100% wind power. 

NIST

NIST received its eighth consecutive Environmental Award for their continued environmental efforts.  The NIST Advanced Measurements Laboratory complex is constructed below grade and below the local water table.  In 2008, NIST completed a diversion project to utilize the groundwater in the site’s cooling tower instead of discharging it into the stormwater system.  In 2009, NIST saved more than 35 million gallons of water over 2007 levels.  The NIST Recycling Program continues to be recognized as one of the best programs in Montgomery County.  Last year, NIST recycled over 300,000 pounds of materials, amounting to a recycling rate of close to 50%.  Additionally, 93,000 pounds of electronics waste was diverted from the landfill.  A newly-hired Environmental Protection Specialist will allow NIST to focus more on proactive and strategic projects for environmental improvement. 

Holiday Inn – Gaithersburg

The Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg completed an extensive environmentally-friendly landscaping renovation in October of 2009.  Over 90% of the surrounding property was modified using native plants and landscaping techniques that reduce the need for additional irrigation.  They dryscaped the majority of parking lot islands, front beds and areas along the building façade, removed and replaced all diseased trees (with a net increase of 40 trees on the property now), and used native vegetation such as Crepe Myrtle, Oak and Elm trees.  These efforts will save thousands of gallons of water during the summer season, and river rocks added along the front of the building will reduce erosion and limit mulching in areas with substantial draining.

Standard Solar, Inc.

Standard Solar is dedicated to making the purchase and installation of solar electric systems easy and convenient.  They received an environmental award for the second consecutive year.  In 2009 Standard Solar installed over 200 solar electric systems totaling over 1.7 megawatts.  Together these systems prevent roughly 15,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide, 4,500 pounds of nitrogen oxides and 2.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide pollution from being released into the atmosphere annually.  In addition to helping the environment by installing renewable solar systems, Standard Solar is an active member of the community, conducting educational presentations at schools that emphasize the need for clean energy and the benefits of solar energy.  They often speak at neighborhood association meetings to teach homeowners about conservation, solar energy, and how much carbon they can offset. 

PRIZIM, Inc.

PRIZIM, Inc. is a sustainability services firm specializing in the environment, energy, and social responsibility. The firm seeks to raise the “green IQ” of its clients and is dedicated to helping organizations reach the greenest and most profitable solutions.  Practicing what it preaches, PRIZIM’s Environmental Management System provides the company with an effective process for monitoring its environmental practices.  The company partnered with Native Energy to offset approximately 80 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2007 and 2008, and plans to purchase carbon offsets for their 2009 emissions.  PRIZIM joined the Maryland Green Registry and was involved in Montgomery County’s Green Business Certification Program.  The company also worked with Brown Station Elementary School on their Green Up Day in 2009.

Zosimos Botanicals

Zosimos Botanicals is an eco-friendly mineral makeup and natural skincare company offering environmentally conscious alternatives.  They encompass three tenets of sustainability in their business model:  (1) Zosimos is a socially responsible business, donating to the Breast Cancer Fund, Burning Tree Elementary School, Days End Farm Horse Rescue, and Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary.  They also host summer interns through the Liberty’s Promise program.  (2) Zosimos seeks to educate the community on the hazards of chemicals found in “traditional” cosmetics.  Linda Stein was a featured speaker at the Go Green America Expo in Montgomery County last year.  (3) And finally Zosimos focuses on “greening” their supplies.  They concentrate on reducing or eliminating paper documents, they recycle ink cartridges, they reuse packing materials, they use rain barrels to trap rainwater for gardening and maintenance, and they continue to use 100% wind power for their building operations. 

For more information on the City of Gaithersburg’s environmental programs please contact the Environmental Services Division at 301-258-6310 or visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/environment.